Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Pazely's S'mores Party

While the fam & I HAVE traveled 1200 miles & arrived in Washington, we are still currently without a home, as the rental we'll be moving into is being renovated. We've been house hopping, living out of suitcases, for 3 weeks. I'm hoping our duplex is finished soon, as I'm uber eager to make it all homey & cozy!

Nonetheless, little Miss Pazely just recently celebrated a birthday. I had all of 6 days to throw a party together! *GULP*

But it all came together, thanks to the help of friends, family, & a lot of borrowing.
Pazely turned 9 over a week ago &, finally, I have a day of rest & peace (plus the Mr's laptop) to blog about it.

I didn't have a chance to send out invites for the party, so it was all word of mouth. We invited family & friends to gather at a nearby park, by the river, for a S'mores Bar.

Tia & her Mr. brought their giant custom-made fire pit. It totally made the party. We asked everyone to bring camping chairs or blankets for seating.

I made the "S'mores Bar" bunting with scrapbook paper. The letters were hand-drawn with a black Sharpie. The banner was pinned onto the tablecloth, which was a brown sheet I found in a friend's closet.

I gathered as many wooden bowls, dishes & trays I could find, lined them with parchment paper, & displayed all the makings for s'mores.

It was so much fun watching everyone create crazy s'mores. Someone even made an inside-out s'mores. (Stuff a GIANT marshmallow with graham cracker & chocolate, & roast over fire.)

Even though there was a public restroom nearby, I made sure to have baby wipes on hand for sticky fingers.

One of my favorite touches at the party were the kids' drinks. I found some dusty ole mason jars in grandma's basement, & cleaned them up. Next, I wrapped a latex balloon around the bottom of each jar. A paper cupcake liner + the jar's ring creates a bug-proof container! (Those two ideas were found on Pinterest.) And I finally got to use paper straws! (I cut an "x" in the cupcake liners to insert the straws.) I loved the peachy & white stripes of the straws. Which reminds me to share that I sort of picked a color theme reflective of a campfire & smore's: peach, orange, cream, white, tan, brown.

Another option for the balloons on the jars is to get a different color for each jar, like a drink marker, so the kids know EXACTLY which drink is theirs.

The goodie bags, my absolute FAVORITE part of any party, were made with the help of my friend Tia. I was in a bind & needed an extra pair of hands with an extra sewing machine. And an extra iron & ironing board. We stayed up late one night & got all 12 bags sewn up with some ADORABLE mushroom fabric Pazely picked out at JoAnne's. The instructions for "the map bag" can be found in the book Sew What! Bags.

Inside the bags I stuffed a notebook (found at Craft Warehouse for $1) embellished with a campfire scene (made with craft foam), a chocolate scented marker, a Golden Grahams s'mores treat, & a retractable marshmallow skewer (found in the $1 bins at Target).

The kids were so eager to have their own bag that they grabbed 'em as soon as they showed up at the party! And my girls carry around the mushroom map bag wherever they go. It's so cute!

The kids played at the playground near the party all night. It was a simple affair: no games or activities were planned. Just the s'mores bar, that's all. Pazely waited to open her presents until we got home. (There was just too much fun to be had to stop for prezzies.)

It was a great night (the party started at 7:30 PM) with lots of fun mingling & visiting with friends 'round the campfire.